A global conference in Brazil on the future of the Internet in the wake of US spying revelations might be much less anti-American after Washington said it was willing to loosen its control over the Web.

Bowing to the demands of Brazil and other nations following revelations last year of its massive electronic surveillance of Internet users, the United States has agreed to relinquish oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned of Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit group based in California that assigns Internet domain names or addresses.

"The focus has changed from a political reaction to the NSA allegations to one of more constructive criticism and talk about the future of the Internet," said William Beer, a cyber-security expert.

The two-day Net Mundial conference in Sao Paulo, which will be opened on Wednesday by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, will discuss cyber security and how to safeguard privacy and freedom of expression on the Internet, as well as the shape of a future international body to oversee the decentralized digital network.

Officials from dozens of countries - from China and Cuba to the US and European nations - will attend, but organizers say they will have no more voice at the event than Internet companies, academics, technical experts and groups representing Internet users.

"All of them should have equal participation in this multi stakeholder process," said Virgilio Almeida, Brazil's secretary for IT policy, who will chair the conference.

The event is not expected to result in any binding policy decisions, but Almeida said it will launch a high-profile debate that will "sow the seeds" for future reforms of the way the Internet is governed.

Reuters